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NEW INTERVIEW! HAVE A LISTEN! Hammer Films enjoyed a rich heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s making a series of late-night classics, such as The Vampire Lovers, Horror of Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde, and Dracula AD 1972. And Phil Campbell and Brian Reynolds were there, runners on set working with veteran…
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NEW INTERVIEW Actor Norman Eshley was painting the ‘No Smoking’ sign at the Bristol Old Vic when he had a phone call from Orson Welles’ office. Within months he was filming ‘The Immortal Story’ with Jeanne Moreau at the great director’s home in Madrid. There aren’t many actors still around who can describe what it…
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Thinking about my friend Ted Owens who landed on Sword Beach 80 years ago today with 41 Royal Marine Commando. Over the years we made a number of trips to Normandy with Ted eager to talk to everyone who wished to speak to him. These are from D-Day70 (2014) when he was spotted by a…
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This week Prague marks the 82nd anniversary of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich and the massacres which followed. I took these photos on a visit to the site a couple of years ago. On May 27, 1942, Heydrich’s car joined this road turning sharply to follow the main route towards the city centre. But the…
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World War Two was the war in which old gender rules changed, as intelligence agencies created specific training and roles for women. SHADOW WARRIORS is the story of women as undercover combatants: armed with Sten guns and grenades; cutting telecommunication wires, laying mines in roadways; organizing bombing raids; preparing the way for the D-Day invasion…
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Some war movies are adventure films – and we all love them. The Great Escape, Where Eagles Dare, Von Ryan’s Express. Others astound us with the techniques of modern film-making, rendering elements of war viscerally realistic, but remain within the conventions of adventure war films (Saving Private Ryan) or introduce unnecessary parameters apparently to heighten…
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In 1973, the horrific murders of three teenage girls shook a community. A major manhunt was launched but for years the murders remained unsolved. Decades later, it would take a major breakthrough in forensic science to enable a small team of seasoned detectives to re-open the case. But the journey to justice was a winding…
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Perce Blackborow is one of the most fascinating Antarctic explorers. An accidental hero. A stowaway who became a key part one of the great stories of survival… “If anyone has to be eaten, then you will be the first!” the expedition leader said. The words might have been a dark joke but, with what was about…